Los Angeles -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Lindsay Lohan checked into a California rehab center early Friday , ending -- at least for now -- a drama that has had more twists and turns than a high-speed car chase .

Shawn Holley , the lawyer who guided Lohan through years of legal turmoil until the actress abruptly fired her in January , helped her avoid jail once again by brokering a deal , her father told CNN Friday .

`` I am so thankful to Shawn Holley and Evan Haney , her manager , for doing this , '' Michael Lohan said .

While he would n't name the California facility his daughter entered , he noted it is a rehab program she 's been in before .

The actress underwent three months of court-ordered substance abuse rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic at the end of 2010 , but she was in legal trouble again weeks later -- facing a shoplifting charge that led to her current woes .

Lohan , 26 , `` wants to settle in '' for a few days while arrangements can be made to transfer her to the Lukens Institute in Palm Beach Gardens , Florida , which bills itself as a `` luxury rehab center , '' Michael Lohan said .

`` The Lukens Institute is where she wanted to go all along -- a place she will get the right treatment and finally get better , '' Michael Lohan said .

Santa Monica City Attorney Terry White , who must approve any transfer , has not responded to CNN calls for comment .

The actress was supposed to start a 90-day stint in a `` lockdown '' rehab center Thursday , an alternative to a three-month jail term for two misdemeanor convictions and a shoplifting probation violation finding in March . But she abruptly left the Southern California facility where she had gone Thursday morning because `` she was not happy with the place , '' her father said .

Michael Lohan said he was not happy with it either because of the revelation that the facility -- Morningside Recovery in Newport Beach -- ca n't provide alcohol and drug rehab treatments because California officials revoked its license .

`` If a 24-hour residential facility is providing treatment or services to promote the recovery of alcohol and drug abuse then they must possess a license , '' said Millicent Tidwell , deputy director for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs .

None of Morningside 's several locations in California are licensed , Tidwell said . The company previously had three licenses , but all were revoked . The state 's licensing agency is in litigation with Morningside 's unlicensed Newport Beach facility , she said .

It 's unclear whether Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Dabney knew Morningside was unlicensed when Lohan 's lawyer , Mark Heller , informed him in court Thursday morning that she would spend her rehab sentence there .

White objected at Thursday 's hearing , saying Heller did n't get prior approval for Lohan to go to Morningside . White said he needed time to investigate it .

`` Lindsay had no idea that Morningside was n't approved , '' Michael Lohan said .

Heller has not respond to several CNN requests for comment .

The judge ordered the treatment after Lohan entered pleas of no contest on charges relating to a traffic accident and , with those convictions , she was found in violation of her shoplifting probation .

Her six years of legal troubles trace back to two drunken driving arrests in 2007 and include other incidents in which she was behind the wheel .

Lohan was charged with reckless driving and lying to a police officer about a June 2012 car crash in which her Porsche hit a dump truck on the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica , California . Her arrest triggered the probation violation charge .

The police report said Lohan denied being behind the wheel , but the prosecutor was expected to call witnesses who say she was driving .

Lindsay Lohan acknowledged her drug and alcohol addiction in past court appearances .

She 's spent 250 days in five rehab facilities since January 2007 , including one long court-ordered stint after a failed drug test .

The actress has appeared in court at least 20 times before four Los Angeles judges who have now found her in violation of probation six times and sentenced her to a total of nine months in jail .

Lohan has spent about two weeks behind bars in six trips to the Los Angeles County jail , served 35 days under house arrest and worked about 67 days of community service at the county morgue .

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NEW : The lawyer Lindsay Lohan fired in January returns to help her avoid jail again

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NEW : The actress faced jail unless she entered rehab

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Lohan abruptly left another rehab center Thursday

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The actress must spent 90 days in rehab , a judge ordered